Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police have busted an inter-state all-women gang of robbers, who allegedly stole valuables from shopping malls in Odisha capital.
Nine members, arrested by Nayapalli police, have been identified as Labuni Samandar (34), Sukla Banik (30), Manjari Chakraborty (32), Amrita Roy(40), Baisakhi Mirdha (23), Putul Dev Mohanty (35), Malaty Das (34), Rupa Mirdha (32) and Mousumi Dutta (31), all from North 24 Parganas in West Bengal.
Police sources said the gang members visited Bhubaneswar and other parts of the state during Rath Yatra and other festivals and stayed at lodges on rent. They stole products, including cosmetics and other items, by tucking those inside their sarees. The women also picked big electronic gadgets and sold those at much lower rates outside.
The gang struck a shopping mall at Nayapalli two days back when seven of its members were apprehended by police, which then carried out an investigation and nabbed two others. Consumer goods, cosmetics, food items and other products, which were shoplifted from Reliance Smart Bazaar outlet in Krishna Plaza Mall, were seized from them.
“The arrested are from the same village and are related. They mostly target shopping malls, and steal costly cosmetic items and health drinks. They hid them in the bags made in the petticoat. We have seized products worth Rs 2 lakh stolen by them,” said ACP Sanjeev Satpathy.
A police team will travel to West Bengal as some of the members of the gang have left along with stolen articles and also check criminal antecedents of those arrested, he added.
